Guidelines for a highly efficient CuI/n-Si heterojunction solar cell

Abstract

We report the simulation outcomes of a highly efficient CuI/n-Si heterojunction solar cell (HJSC) by SCAPS-1D simulator using the parameters obtained from spin-coated CuI thin film characterizations. The influence of thickness and doping concentration of Si substrate as well as CuI hole transport layer (HTL) on the photovoltaic (PV) parameters and built-in potential has been explored. The optimum values of the solar cell parameters are presented to attain the best result. The highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 22.62% with J SC of 37.25 mA cm −2 , V OC of 0.716 V and FF of 84.69% has been achieved with a 200 μm thick Si substrate and 50 nm thick CuI thin film, respectively. Finally, the resistance dependent PV performance has been investigated for the solar cell. These findings indicate that highly efficient CuI/n-Si HJSC can be designed and this can be a potential candidate compared to the organic/Si HJSC counterpart.

Theoretical insights into a high-efficiency Sb2Se3-based dual-heterojunction solar cell

“…The short circuit, J SC has been risen up from 36.4 to 40.1 mA/cm 2 with an increase in thickness from 0.5 to 3.0 μm. The increment of J SC is reasonable because thicker absorber layer can create more electron-hole pairs (EHPs) through absorbing more photons incident on it ( Hossain et al., 2020 ). At the same time, open circuit voltage, V OC also increases with the thickness of the Sb 2 Se 3 absorber layer.…”

“…However, J SC is observed to downfall with the increase in carrier concentration. The recombination loss increases as a result of high doping concentration that affect the cell performance and a decrement of J SC occurres from 38.5 to 35.9 mA/cm 2 due to the enhancement of carrier concentration from 10 13 to 10 17 cm −3 ( Hossain et al., 2020 ; Watahiki et al., 2016 ). However, as the series resistance gets lowered at higher carrier concentration, FF rises from 80.37 to 84%.…”

“…The V OC escalates from 0.835 to 0.901 V with increasing acceptor concentration from 10 16 to 10 21 cm −3 of AgInTe 2 layer. Since the built-in potential rises with additional N A , the enhancement of V OC with doping concentration is reasonable since higher built-in potential will the reduce recombination current ( Hossain et al., 2020 ; Mostaque et al., 2022 ). This trend is also evident in FF and PCE which elevate from 78.65 and 35.7% to 86.62 and 42.2%, respectively for the increase of carrier concentration from 10 16 to 10 21 cm −3 .…”

Dopant‐free passivating contacts for crystalline silicon solar cells: Progress and prospects

“…(B) Evolution of the record efficiencies of c ‐Si solar cells with different ETLs (left) and HTLs (right). The respective materials used are indicated in the graphs 48–50,52,54–56,59,62,63,80,93,96,97,99,100,111,114,116,121,132,169,172,200,201,215,217,220,239–251 …”

“…111 The employment of TaN x between c-Si and Al restrains the carrier recombination and reduces ρ c at the rear surface, thus significantly improving the efficiency of The respective materials used are indicated in the graphs. [48][49][50]52,[54][55][56]59,62,63,80,93,96,97,99,100,111,114,116,121,132,169,172,200,201,215,217,220,[239][240][241][242][243][244][245][246][247][248][249][250][251] c-Si solar cells from 16.1% to 20.1%. In comparison, a much smaller fraction of materials have been suggested with potentials as HTL, including CuI, 116 Cu 2 S, 113 and MoN x 58 this topic remains to be further exploited.…”